First,
we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they
were pregnant.They
took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't
get tested for diabetes.

Then
after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs
covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no
childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when
werode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we
took hitchhiking.As
infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats,
booster seats, seat belts or air bags.Riding
in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special
treat.

We
drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a
bottle.

We
shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and

NO
ONE actually died from this.

We
ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank koolade made with
sugar, but we weren't overweight because .

WE
WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING
!

We
would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were
backwhen
the streetlights came on.

No
one was able to reach us all day.

And
we were O.K.

We
would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride
downthe hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running
into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the
problem.

We did not
have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video
gamesat all, no
150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or
CD's,no
cell phones, no personal computer! s, no Internet or chat
rooms.......WE
HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell
out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were
nolawsuits from these accidents.

We ate
worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us
forever.

We
were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,made
up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it
would happen, we did not put out very many
eyes.We
rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and kno cked on the door or
r! ang the
bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Little
League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't
had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine
that!!

The idea of
a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard
of.

They
actually sided with the law!

These
generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem
solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50
years have been an explosion of innovation and new
ideas.

We
had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we
learned

HOW
TODEAL
WITH IT ALL!

If
YOU are one of them . . .CONGRATULATIONS!

You
might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up
askids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of
our lives

for
our own good
.

And
while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how
brave (and lucky) their parents were.

Kind
of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't
it?!

The quote of the month is by Jay
Leno:

"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud
slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one
end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist
attacks,"Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge
of Allegiance?"